Christian Gonzalez, spokesman for the Diocese of Austin, said Euresti, the pastor of Cristo Rey Catholic Church in south Austin, had been making weekly trips to work on the house before his scheduled retirement in July.

The 69-year-old, ordained in 1965, had worked as an Air Force chaplain and in bilingual parishes all over Texas before returning to Cristo Rey, his childhood parish, in the final years of his career.

Drug cartel-fueled violence along the border began alarming some Laredo and Nuevo Laredo residents several years ago, but Rios said her uncle insisted he would be safe and had never had trouble with anyone there before.

"He loved Mexico and he loved Laredo. He would vacation there a lot," she said.

"We tried to convince him not to buy a house down there. He would say, 'It'll be OK. You don't mess with them, they won't mess with you.'"

A caretaker had been staying at the home, and Rios said Mexican authorities were questioning him.

Gonzalez said funeral arrangements depended largely how soon relatives would be allowed to bring the body back from Mexico.

An associate pastor at Cristo Rey has been named the new pastor and will say Mass on Easter, he said.